When I was a little girl, one of my favorite TV shows to watch was “I Love Lucy”.  Lucille Ball’s antics and physical comedic talent was so funny to me.  One of my most memorable was when she was in the big wine press stomping grapes with another woman.  The antics hyped up as the episode progressed.  They both ended up covered in grape juice.  It was hilarious.  Another of my favorites was when she was working at the candy shop with Ethel Mertz.  Their job was to place each piece of candy on a paper and send it along on the conveyor belt.  As the belt went faster and faster, they could not keep up with it and they ended up eating some of the candy and ultimately putting them down their clothes.  Hysterical!

My last stroll down memory lane was when Lucy and Ricky were headed out on a vacation.  They had a travel trailer hooked to their car and they were heading across the country.  Lucy’s plan was to collect a rock from each location they stopped at as a souvenir.  Ricky told her “Absolutely not”, so she decided to sneak them into the trailer.  Some of the rocks she picked up were pretty small and easy to hide and others were bigger and took some manipulation and planning to hide.  Ricky couldn’t understand why the car was struggling to make it up the mountains because the trailer shouldn’t be too heavy for the car.  As they got to their next destination and Ricky opened the door to the trailer, all of the rocks came tumbling out and she was busted.  The look on her face was priceless.

I got to thinking that there has to be a spiritual message in here, so, I have a story for you.

There was a woman who picked up her backpack and began her journey.  She didn’t have much in her backpack so she decided that she would pick up rocks as souvenirs on her way.  She saw this beautiful rock, picked it up and looked carefully at it.  It appealed to her; however, this rock was called vanity.  The next rock she found had jagged edges but had its own beauty.  Its name was jealousy.  The next rock was this magnificent red and it was called anger.  Day by day she found more and more rocks and placed them all in her backpack.  Some were called grief, sadness, depression, gossip, deceitfulness, and the list went on and on.

Pretty soon she noticed that her backpack was getting really heavy.  She could barely lift it any longer.  So, she decided to take inventory of her backpack to see if there were any she could live without.  They all had an appealing quality to them, and she didn’t know which she could take out.

As she labored under the burden of carrying them all, she started to stumble and fall under the load.  She began to cry out to anyone who would listen.  “Someone help me!” she said.  Her girlfriends looked at her load and felt that it was too heavy for them.  They would not help.  She looked to her parents and children.  They had their own burdens to carry.  They couldn’t carry hers, too.  Strangers turned away from her.  There was no one.  What was she to do now?  She was at the lowest low.

Then she heard a still small voice in her head.  “Hey, I’ve heard that voice before”, she said.  “It’s been a long time though.  Am I sure it’s who I think it is?”  There it was again!

Matthew 11:28-30

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened (worn out and overloaded), and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“But, Lord, I really like all of these rocks.  It’s too much to ask to take them all out of my backpack.  What am I to do?”

As I’m thinking about what she is to do, my thoughts go to the book, Treasures Out of Trauma, authored by Arlene Hendriks.  In Chapter 4, she speaks about idols.  This was a shocking chapter to me because I never thought the rocks that I am carrying are idols.  She defines them as something that comes between us and God, usurping God’s place in our heart.  Ouch!  That hurt!  These idols are wounded places from the past with power to influence us in the present when they take the place of God.  Wow!

I Peter 5:7

⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

She needs to listen to God and hear him speak to her.  He will guide her through the process of laying down her rocks (idols).  He will remind her of the areas in her life that he wants to work in.  Is he working on jealousy today?  Focus on that rock.  Is he working on being deceitful?  Focus on that rock.  One at a time, God will bring you to the place where you can lay down your burdens and leave them with him.  Take your burden to the cross, lay it down and leave it there.  It’s no big secret but it is hard.  He will carry the weight of them on his shoulders instead of you, if you will only let him.

Ezekiel 36:26

I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. (The Message)